SHUNIAH — A proposed wellness retreat centre in the Amethyst Harbour area is drawing strong opinions from residents.
Late last year, Tami Hutchinson submitted a rezoning application to the town administration which, if approved by council, would allow for the conversion of an existing structure into a guest house and sever two lots on the east side of the property for the development of the retreat centre.
Hutchinson proposes to hold two-weekend wellness sessions a month with accommodation.
However, during this process, several Amethyst Avenue residents have voiced opposition to the proposal of turning a rural residential property into a commercial lot, citing potential harm to the environment, increased traffic and safety issues, and setting a precedent for future non-residential uses.
The issue was the focus of a public meeting on Monday that lasted four hours.
Walter Kuch said that the residents are not opposed to the retreat, but they are concerned about the long-term effects.
“You got community members that are three, four generations, and they’ve witnessed the development and the changes and the community has done a lot in terms of reserving and preserving the natural heritage around it,” Kuch said.
Currently, Shuniah’s official plan designates the property Hutchinson is interested in acquiring as a rural and protected area because of a nearby wetland area. Hutchinson wants to sever a portion of the rural area and purchase that land outright for the wellness centre.
“If you were going to make new lots, you wouldn’t put them in a wetland,” said Kuch.
“If you have to take out all the trees, and you have to put in a lot of fill to make sure that the sewage is well taken care of. So, it’s really an unfortunate front to getting rid of really what’s a nice boreal forest, and people are really not going to be for that. They want to make smaller lots, more driveways, sort of suburbanize it, and call it an estate. But, it’s no longer going to be the natural forest background that everybody is used to out there.”
However, Hutchinson refuted this claim, telling council “the creek is one of the main reasons we had an environmental impact study done. We have been provided with mitigation measures by the Harris Ecological as noted in that site plan and we plan to abide by those mitigation measures.”
Hutchinson is required to have a minimum of a 30-metre buffer from the creek as part of the mitigation measure. The proponent also explained that she has limited the number of trees that will need to be cut to build the proposed yoga studio.
“Keeping in mind that we have 50 acres of forested property remaining and that does not include the property that we are requesting to sever,” Hutchinson said.
Increased traffic is also a major concern for the residents of Amethyst Avenue, who described the roadway as a two-lane cottage residential road often filled with children bicycling and residents walking. Their concern is the increased traffic could cause potential safety issues. The road consists of a single-lane bridge and several blind turns, with the driveway entrance for the proposed retreat centre located near that bridge.
Hutchinson said a traffic study completed in July 2021 showed 1,700 vehicles per week and almost 7,000 vehicles per month used the road regularly.
Hutchinson noted that the traffic study was done at the height of the summer cottage season and during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She added it could also mean those numbers are “likely lower than normal.”
Hutchinson said the property would have a total of five rooms to serve a total number of 12 guests.
“Generally, if two people share a room, they would drive together,” said Hutchinson.
Hutchinson declined an interview request after the meeting.
Another point residents made was that if the bylaw was approved this would set a precedence for future non-residential ventures.
"If it gets zoned and commercial is allowed then the next person comes along, you know if this person retires, somebody else buys the thing, then looks at it very creatively,” Kuch said.
At the beginning of the public hearing, Mayor Wendy Landry told the resident that no decision what going to be made until all comments have been submitted.
“We want to make sure that there is an opportunity for people to speak to the application and so the process really is how long does it take for people to get their comments in,” said Landry.
“Once it seems that it subsided and no more comments are coming in, then the clerk will prepare the package and bring it back to council on an agenda with the additional comments. Then council will have a discussion.”
